Questions still linger over John Brennan

The Senate Intelligence Committee is set to vote Tuesday on John Brennan’s nomination to be the next director of the CIA, but some Republicans and Democrats alike still have questions.

Particularly, a few senators remain determined to leverage the process to gain more information from the White House on the legal opinions backing U.S. drone strikes and on the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

The committee’s vice chairman, Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), acknowledged on Monday the White House had given the committee a second batch of documents, but like Feinstein, would not go into any detail.

"These are all classified documents," Chambliss told reporters at the Capitol, adding that the White House was "making progress" on disclosure.

"Dianne has been very cooperative, she's been very reasonable," Chambliss said.

Earlier Monday, Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire released a new list of questions they want answered about the Benghazi attacks.

None of them are on the Intelligence Committee, but they could represent a potent threat to the expediency of Brennan’s confirmation if they press for a 60-vote threshold to move the nomination on the Senate floor.

Their insistence for additional information on Benghazi was a contributing factor in delaying Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s confirmation last month.

"What we're asking for is not unreasonable. What we're asking for is the ABCs of Benghazi," Graham said Monday. "I just want to get the information ... It's a common practice to put holds on nominees for information that a senator would like to have."

"I assume we will get the information [on Benghazi]. If we don't get the information, then I will decide what I need to do," he said.

In mid-January, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) requested that Brennan — a former top CIA official who is now President Barack Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser — provide Congress with the secret legal opinions backing the government's ability to target and kill Americans.

And Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has been pressing for answers from Brennan on whether a drone strike could take place on U.S. soil.

Brennan’s confirmation has undoubtedly been made rockier by requests for the information. And much of the discussion about it has been in closed committee sessions, as will Tuesday’s expected committee vote.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 6:49 p.m. on March 4, 2013.